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Letters to Cyclingnews - February 13, 2004

Here's your chance to get more involved with Cyclingnews. Comments and
criticism on current stories, races, coverage and anything cycling related
are welcomed, even pictures if you wish. Letters should be brief (less
than 300 words), with the sender clearly identified. They may be edited
for space and clarity; please stick to one topic per letter. We will normally
include your name and place of residence, but not your email address unless
you specify in the message.

Each week's best letter gets our 'letter of the week' award. We look
for for letters that contain strong, well-presented opinions; humour;
useful information or unusual levels of sheer helpfulness.

Letter of the week

A signed copy of William Fotheringham's
Tom Simpson bio is on its way to Rick.

Sevilla challenging for the Tour?

The news item
from February 9 states, "Sevilla plans to challenge for the
Tour this year. 'Why not? Lance Armstrong has faltered and that
has encouraged many of us. He can have a bad day and then there
is a group of Spaniards that will try to take advantage: Mayo, Mancebo,
Beloki, Heras, Zubeldia, and myself.' "

This has to be disappointing news to team captain Tyler Hamilton.
He jumped from CSC to Phonak specifically to become a sole team
leader for the Tour de France with a team to be built around him
for support him there.

From the Phonak
Team Presentation report, January 16: "My two years with CSC
were fantastic," Hamilton explained, emphasizing his admiration
and respect for manager Bjarne Riis, whom he considers a father
figure. Still, chances to become a unique team leader, with a roster
built around his aim of not just improving on his fourth place of
2003, but winning the Tour, was too good a deal for Hamilton to
let pass. "That was the hardest decision of my life," he added.
"You can't take away the last two years [at CSC]. I had great results,
and so did the team... But most important was the fact that Phonak
could guarantee to build a team around me for the Tour."

Should Sevilla simply be happy to not be riding Divison 2 with
Kelme, or should he be allowed to challenge for the Tour? Is Sevilla
to be reined in or is there a change in plan and policy at Phonak?
Will Phonak have two protected riders? This year's Tour is already
beginning to get more and more intriguing by the day!

How will the Tour 2004 unfold?

It was a dark winter night in the Canadian snow-packed Laurentian mountains.
From the star-studded sky came a small but clearly visible light beam. It hit
the snowdrift in front of my log cabin and began melting it. I was afraid at
first, but then I saw that the beam was merely writing something in the snow...
Here's what it said.

Predictions for the 2004 Tour de France.

The big news about the TdF 04 happens before the Tour. In early March at the
Vuelta à Murcia, Armstrong and Ullrich meet in a heavily media-covered event.
Before the start of the first stage they look at each other and decide that
sportsmanship should be the order of the day. When the stage finally begins,
both decide that it would be unsportsmanlike not to wait for the other guy,
so both refuse to turn a pedal before the other. Reports from Spain in early
July have both riders still standing at the start line at Murcia, five-month
beards on their chins, surrounded by empty musette bags and drink bottles, still
giving each other "The Look" and waiting for the other guy to move.

Another story breaks just before the prologue. Jean-Marie Leblanc (in an unprecedented
move) decides to ban all Spanish riders that are not riding on a French team
or a French bike, finally proving Pascual
Llorente's point. Somewhat interestingly, ASO forgets to ban Roberto Heras,
thinking that he is still riding for USPS.

The prologue is won by Joseba Beloki, with David Millar close second. Millar
has to carry his ride across the last part of the 6 km course after both pedals,
his saddle and the handlebars come off. Tyler Hamilton breaks his collarbone
after being hit by Millar's left pedal. He will continue the Tour.

The first three stages are decided by mass-sprints and are all won by Sandro
Petacchi.

The team time trial is nullified after it is discovered that theoretically
an entire team could lose sufficient time for the leader to lose the
TdF. After checking the race's history, Leblanc discovers that a lot of Tours
were decided by less than a five-minute margin.

Stage 5, 6 and 7 are all won by Petacchi but he crashes after his sixth win
while trying to having to raise six fingers to point at the camera and not noticing
Graham Watson, who wanted to take one of his famed snapshots at the finish line.
Petacchi retires, Watson is okay, his camera is not. Tyler Hamilton breaks his
second collarbone after being hit by Watson's camera lens. He will continue
the Tour.

Stage 8 is won in the rain by David Millar after a solo break away of 171 km,
which starts after the first kilometre of the day. Millar is happy but tells
everyone that the course is too dangerous and the race should be stopped.

After the rest day it's time for the sprinters again. O'Grady and Zabel battle
it out on the Stage 9 finish line, only to find that they mistook the "flamme
rouge" for the finish. Cooke and McEwen sprint to the real line and cross it
at the exact same time. The photo finish proves it. They share the podium, the
ceremonial handshakes, the flowers, the podium girls... Both fail to go on to
stage 10 and open a flower shop in the center of Guéret, which is a nice city
for settling.

Stage 10 is won by Axel Merckx. His dad is so proud that he knocks over a couple
of spectators on the way to the podium. He also runs into Tyler Hamilton who
falls and breaks his left arm. He will continue the Tour.

Stage 11 sees a 20-man breakaway getting caught by the peloton with only 50
meters to go. O'Grady wins the sprint but is later disqualified after it is
found that "the bulge" he was packing in his shorts on the podium is actually
an aluminum-wrapped cucumber.

Stage 12 is a classic mountaintop finish. Botero wins the stage in front of
Heras, who gets the yellow, Virenque is third but gets the King of the Mountain
in the process. Virenque fails to start Stage 13 as during the night he develops
a rash as a result of sleeping in the polka-dot jersey. He now has permanent
polka-dot scars all over his upper body.

Stage 13 is won by Beloki in front of Heras. Beloki breaks down in tears at
the finish line. A minute later Tyler Hamilton passes the finish line, not noticing
the puddle of tears. His front wheel slips and he crashes, breaking his right
arm. He will continue the Tour.

Stage 14 is won by Vinokourov, who takes along his one year old baby in a bike
trailer for the stage. He literally "rocks the baby" over the finish line.

Stage 15 is won by Basso in front of Sastre and Bettini. In fact all riders
in the front group are Italian. They are all disqualified as a raid by French
police allegedly discovers receipts for drugs of a total of over €600 million
in their luggage (but no drugs). Six months later French police quietly abandon
the case for lack of evidence.

Stage 16 is the long-awaited time trial up Alpe d'Huez. Beloki wins by three
seconds over Botero and five seconds over Heras (still in yellow). Leblanc is
stunned that no Frenchman has yet won a stage and decides to ban all non-European
riders from the rest of the Tour. After protests by the US state department,
Leblanc reverses his decision and decides to leave US and Canadian riders in.
Tyler Hamilton is so happy that he tries to do a wheelie on his TT bike only
to fall and break his neck. He will continue the Tour.

Stage 17 is won by Floyd Landis after replacing his radio earpiece with headphones
and listening to ZZ Top all day. However, Floyd will not continue the Tour as
he does not notice the finish line and keeeps on going. Rumors have it that
he is now on tour with the little ol' band from Texas.

Stage 18 is won by Beloki - who promptly breaks down and cries again - in front
of Heras who remains in yellow. Joseba will however not go on with the Tour
as the entire La Boulangère team is stricken with diarrhea after eating some
bad brioches for dinner.

Stage 19 is won by David Millar, again in the rain. He is very happy and thanks
all his friends during the podium ceremony, including a tribal medicine man
from Mozambique who was seen before the stage in the start area performing a
rain dance. Heras stays in yellow.

Stage 20 gets underway with a dispute between Manolo Saiz and Johann Bruyneel
after Johann tries to hand out champagne to the reporters at the start line.
Manolo accuses Johann of "backstabbing" after which Bruneel punches Saiz in
the face. Both roll on the floor fighting and screaming. Leblanc sees the scene
and fines them both one symbolic Swiss franc before he bans them both from the
final stage.

At the finish line there is a mass-sprint of the peloton which is won by George
Hincapie. However George does not believe he won and refuses to go to the podium.
Heras rolls in with the main pack, proudly displaying the yellow. At the podium
he receives the final yellow jersey of the 2004 TDF with... a USPS logo on it!
Some rumors have it that he never left the "blue train", others claim that Bruyneel
has offered him a new contract to rejoin the USPS squad. The contract is backdated
to January 1 2004.

Epilogue: After reading this message in the snow, I realized that this could
only mean that I either had too much eggnog for Xmas or that I have been reading
too many Cyclingnews.com reader letters. Either way, I'm waiting for the Tour
2004! Only 135 days left!

Tour de France 2004 #1

Eddie, that's a pretty nice
list you got there! Not sure I think Beloki would be able to beat Ullrich
up the hill but he might. And I agree that, based on 2003, Mayo should be considered
the favorite for the Alp d'Huez ITT. I think we'll probably see Mayo and Lance
at the top battling for first, with Heras/Ullrich trying to hang for third.
One of the other contributors was correct in noting that Ullrich lost more time
on Alp d'Huez than Luz Ardiden, but watch the stage and you'll see he got gassed
very early on in the climb up l'Alpe. He's an asthmatic and once he gets into
trouble he has no prayer of recovering well. I know: I'm a racing asthmatic,
too. I also enjoy strudel, but there ends the comparison!

Tour de France 2004 #2

I think the reality of this year's TdF is that if Armstrong comes prepared
everyone else is in serious trouble. Last Year Ullrich did so well because of
all his rest because; he really didn't ride much last year with Coast/Bianchi.
He rode himself into form and had fresh legs. Ullrich can't put time into Armstrong
in the mountains. Mayo and Heras cant time trail well enough to threaten GC.
Hamilton and Beloki will be top seven but not major threats. Lance is in the
top three in TT and climbing. You can't say that about anyone else in the Tour
and that is what makes him so tough to beat. Ullrich can get time on Armstrong
in the TT, but in the mountains it's different. Mayo or Heras could gain time
on Armstrong climbing but in the TT they lose time. Armstrong is well-rounded:
good climber, good in the TT, good tactician, big heart....6 in a row.

Tour de France 2004 #4

Eddie, I sure hope you are enjoying winter in the Bahamas! I'm watching it
snow right now wishing I had one of those high dollar computerized indoor training
systems that make indoor riding 'fun'.

I have ridden l'Alpe d'Huez several times and although it is no easy climb
it is much easier than say, the Mortirolo, which is a similar distance. I think
it is a TT that favors Armstrong over most of the other GC contenders. I don't
think I am good enough to rank them in their exact finish order but here's my
best guess, assuming all those below both ride the tour, and are in good form.

Tour de France 2004 #5

In response to Mr. Bethel’s picks for the Alpe TT.

Interesting choices. I agree that Mayo and Heras are likely top candidates,
although I would argue that Heras is probably the better uphill TT specialist.
While Mayo did a great climb last year in the TdF, he relies on tempo changes
to break down his opponents. Having said that, the climb of the Alpe dictates
many tempo changes as there are some flatter sections (the switchbacks) and
some vertical sections. Heras has proven that he can TT uphill like no body’s
business, a la the Vuelta last fall. While I am a huge Ullrich fan, I doubt
that he can pull off a top 10 finish, as he hates tempo changes – he’s at his
best when he can grind away in a big gear at a constant pace.

I won’t offer a complete list, but I’ll pick Heras to win and venture that
Armstrong, Mayo, and Hamilton will be in the top 10.

Good luck on your picks... I can’t wait to find out who has guessed right!

Marion Clignet diary: Training with the boys

Marion's diary entry
was the most interesting piece I have read from any rider ever. In simple, direct
language she describes the challenges and difficulties of a top-flight athlete
in training. In similar style she also matter-of-factly describes the challenges
of someone with a neurological disorder, and one way to meet them - with total
aplomb. Sure, it doesn't hurt that she has contacts at the highest level of
the sport who are enthusiastic about having Marion along for a ride, and that
Renault, with a simple phone call, hands over the keys to the van. But Marion
has to do the 150+km per day, with the guys, in the rain, herself. No one can
do that for her, and she clearly doesn't expect anything less from herself.

That her prose is at once terse and articulate, makes for an unexpectedly elegant
read. Keep it coming, Marion, and good luck at Moscow.

More to cycling than the Tour

The 2003 Tour de France
finished over six months ago and the debate still rages on about whether or
not Jan waited and was Lance really dehydrated. The 2004 edition does not start
for almost another six months but already we're treated to predictions and analysis.

Though the TdF is a great race, this overriding obsession with it overshadows
the many great races and riders that make up the other 11 or so months of the
European racing calendar. Where are the letters discussing who will win the
2004 WC? Why can't cycling fans put aside the TDF for a couple months and discuss
the upcoming spring classics? How many people even follow bike racing after
the TDF finishes? How many people even knew who won last years Giro di Lombardia?
How many care?

We were discussing this in the Cyclingnews office the other day, and concluded
that the ongoing excitement about the 2003 and 2004 Tours was a result of
historically very unusual circumstances: a rider clocked up his fifth consecutive
Tour last year, and has a good chance of being the first to make it to six
in 2004. Plus, the 2003 Tour was undeniably the most exciting in years.

We're also fairly sure that lots of people who tuned in for the Tour in 2003
have stayed with us - our traffic is unprecedentedly high for the time of
year. The Tour may be what people are writing letters about, but we know they
are paying attention to the other races too.

Teams & sponsors #1

Teams & sponsors #2

In the discussion of companies that would make absolutely fabulous team sponsors
for Australian teams, one needs to consider whether there is any high up executive
at any of them who has an interest in cycling, as more often than not, that
is the way to get an "in." If there's any big executive types who read cyclingnews.com,
could you please speak up?

Cross wheels

As an experienced road racer and mountain biker, I know my share of gear info.
As such, I am slightly embarrassed to ask this question: What is the reason
for deep-section (aero) rimmed wheels seen so often on bikes of top 'cross racers?
I'm only assuming it is because the carbon rims that are prevalent are more
durable and less likely to come out of true or round. This is purely a curiosity
because I can't think that aerodynamics in cyclocross are quite as important
as in, say, time trials. Having never actually seen a cross race, I could be
wrong.

Doping

As the years roll on and the scandals continue I keep asking myself can bicycling
really be continuing as the dirtiest of all sports, or are we just under the
most vigilant scrutiny? Any ideas? (By the way in either case I believe every
effort should be made to clean up cycling, but my pride in my sport wishes others
would do the same).

How to lean in corners

One can not debate the lean technique
without accounting for leg weighting and arm pulling. Davis Phinny’s book has
a good chapter on this. The three techniques steering (bike upright body leaned
more), leaning (body same as bike), and counter steering (bike leaned more body
less). Steering is the lease effective in general because the front wheel is
turned in the direction of the corner making it prone to “wash out”. Counter
steering is the most effective and is the actual technique you see a motorcyclist
use in a race. The front wheel is actually turned in the opposite direction
of the turn so the when the wheel “washes” the bike tries to go upright thus
saving the crash. The moto guys lean more because of the weight ratio.

The attitude of the front wheel and the weight of the riders legs are different
for each technique making it impossible to remove from the debate. Here is a
good experiment for you to try. Get an old bike tie a string to the both sides
of the bars and around the seat post and make the tension unequal. Roll the
bike down the hill. The bike will lean opposite of the tension every time.

Phil, Paul and Bob

I recently noticed that Bob Roll (whose middle name could be 'Jelly', 'Dinner'
or 'Rockin') is co-hosting the WCP Vuelta '03 DVD with premier English language
announcers Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin. I wonder if Mr. Roll is being groomed
for the retirement of Mr. Liggett. Based on various comments, I figure Phil
is in his 50s, so perhaps he's looking to hang up his hat? If anyone has information
to share, I would appreciate it.

For the record, I think Phil and Paul are great announcers. Even though many
riders often "dig deep into the suitcase of courage and suffer like they've
never suffered before", their commentary adds insight, energy and a bit of humor
to the sport of cycling. It is my most sincere hope that whomever (eventually)
replaces Mr. Liggett can continue the tradition of excellent commentary.

Jim Strange
East Scarp of the Sierra, Nevada, USA
Saturday, February 7, 2004

Recent letters pages

February 6 letters - Tour of
Qatar, Team names, Australian team, National & world jerseys & regulations,
Tour de France 2004, How to lean in corners?, Cyclo-cross & more in Japan

February 2 letters - Australian
team, Cofidis: All publicity is good publicity? Anyone Traveling to TDF 2004?
24 hour race timing, World Jerseys, Team Names, Training location, How to
lean in corners? Mullet time again? Tour de France 2004, Aussies Around the
World